La Griteria…and setting up for Christmas.

We’ll be making some new traditions this year, since this will be the first year we won’t be home for Christmas. This year it started with what is known as, “La Griteria”. It happens every year on December 7th, and people celebrate by lighting fireworks at 6pm at night. I’m talking every single person, in the entire city. Well, at least it sounds that way! And, people set up little alters/tables with the Virgin Mary on them, and walk around to each others house, greeting each other. They also pass out gifts of candy, treats, and small gifts.
Brandon and I just walked around to check things out, and decided to stay indoors for the firework display. Being from the state of California, where fireworks are forbidden, I have therefore developed a fear of fireworks in the hands of just anyone-especially small children and drunk people! But it was interesting nonetheless. (Sorry, I didn’t get any photos!)

I can’t help it. I guess I’m a sucker for cheesy. The day after Thanksgiving is time to set up and decorate for Christmas. Since we moved into our new place on Thanksgiving, I was willing to move Christmas set up back a little. A few days later we were on the hunt for Christmas decorations. Turns out Nicaraguans get pretty into setting up lights, trees, and such things. So finding a few things to make the house feel Christmasy was pretty easy. We didn’t want to pay much for our tree, so we went to the outdoor market. I always enjoy when Brandon negotiates prices for us-something that I hate doing!- and he did pretty good with the Spanish that he knows. They even had lights too, in all different colors! The best part was asking if they had any angles for tree toppers. We didn’t know the word for tree topper, and so asking for an angel for the top of the tree was so silly to them! They put a star on top, duh, and they tried selling us one of those. But I was going to hold out for an angel, as stubborn as I am, and after a week of searching, came up empty handed. A home made bow worked great instead!